About DRC

A lot of people have been asking us "Why the Democratic Republic of Congo?" Here is some information about DRC. We feel called to adopt from there for many reasons but one basic one is need. There are so many children in need of families living in DRC. We know we can't take all of them home, but we are excited to have the opportunity to give one (or two) child(ren) a forever family. 


General Information:

• Population: 68.6 million (CIA Factbook 2009)
• Orphaned or Homeless Children: Over 5 million estimated (USAID 2009)
• Per capita GDP: US $195 (World Bank 2008; 191^st on list of 192 countries)
• Language: French is the official language of the country.  It is meant to be an ethnically neutral language to ease communication between different ethnic groups.  There are an estimated 242 African languages spoken in DRC.  Of these, only four have the status of regional or international languages: Swahili, Kikongo, Lingala and Tshiluba.

Location:

The DRC is located in west-central Africa and is the third largest country in Africa, occupying about 2.3 million square kilometers. The capital city is Kinshasa, which is located in the west of the country on the Congo River. The total population is approximately 65 million. It is the nineteenth most populated country in the world and the fourth most populated country in Africa. 

 

Recent History:

• At war from 1998 - 2003 (even though the war is over the violence hasn't stopped)
• 1,500 people die per day in DRC because of the conflict
• Deadliest conflict since WWII
• Over 5.4 million people have died since 1998
• Life expenctancy is 46 years
• Over 5.2 million Congolese children receive no education
• Over 1.2 million people are infected with HIV-almost 60% of those infected are women
• Malaria kills 400 children a day
• Sexual violence against women and female children is the worst anywhere in the world